Dr Will Mason

School of Education

Senior Lecturer in Qualitative Methods

Dr Will Mason
Profile picture of Dr Will Mason
w.j.mason@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 8368
The Wave

Full contact details

Dr Will Mason
School of Education
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
Profile

Will is a sociologist with expertise in youth work, critical methodologies, and the voluntary community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. He takes an engaged and pragmatic approach to scholarship, working at the intersection of research and practice. His research experience ranges from large-scale, multi-institutional studies to small, community-based projects delivering bespoke, localised initiatives.

Will specialises in engaged scholarship and . He plays an active role in several local and regional initiatives. He has been a volunteer youth worker for over ten years, supporting the coordination and delivery of five open-access youth provisions, including homework clubs, youth clubs, and community gyms.

He is a steering group member of the Sheffield Youth Alliance, a cross-sector network of youth and community organisations in Sheffield, and co-editor of the British Sociological Association (BSA) journal Sociological Research Online.

Research interests

Will鈥檚 research examines how the voluntary community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector responds to social inequalities, with a particular focus on youth. His recent projects explore the importance of community resources (like youth clubs and community gyms) for , as well as the role of community partnerships in strengthening the capacity of grassroots youth organisations to meet local needs.

His work aligns with current policy priorities that emphasise the role of civil society in addressing national challenges. It highlights the need for sustained investment and infrastructural support for the VCSE sector to improve working conditions and build organisational capacity, while safeguarding social purpose.

Methodologically, Will is particularly interested in engaged, community-led scholarship, longitudinal research relationships () and partnership working. Substantively, his research focuses on the social determinants of health and wellbeing, the civic role of universities, VCSE partnerships, and the translation of policy into practice.

Publications

Edited books

  • Foster L, Mason W & Nichols K (Eds.) (2025) . Edward Elgar Publishing.

Journal articles

  • White L, Mason W, Grant V, Romaine A, Cleary G & Tulloch S (2026) . British Journal of Sociology of Education.
  • Tester-Jones M, Mason W, Fairbrother H, Scott S, Robinson S & Melendez-Torres GJ (2026) . Children and Youth Services Review, 108969-108969.
  • Mason W, Haybe M & Unity Gym Project (2025) . Sociological Research Online, 30(3), 781-786.
  • Mason W & Warmington M (2024) . Higher Education.
  • Mason W & Williams P (2022) . Methodological Innovations.
  • Mason W (2022) . Qualitative Research, 146879412210822-146879412210822.
  • Mason W (2021) . Qualitative Research.
  • Mason W, Morris K, Featherstone B, Bunting L, Davidson G, McCartan C, Bywaters P & Webb C (2021) . The British Journal of Social Work, 51(7), 2645-2664.
  • Ratcliffe J, Gray J, Bools C, Wilson R, Wigfield A & Mason W (2021) . Child Abuse Review, 29(6), 559-573.
  • Mason W, Morris K, Webb C, Daniels B, Featherstone B, Bywaters P, Mirza N, Hooper J, Brady G, Bunting L & Scourfield J (2020) . Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 14(2), 164-183.
  • Mason W (2020) . British Journal of Criminology, 60(2), 382-402.
  • Featherstone B, Morris K, Daniel B, Bywaters P, Brady G, Bunting L, Mason W & Mirza N (2019) . Children and Youth Services Review, 97, 127-133.
  • Mason WJ (2018) . Sociology, 52(6), 1117-1133.
  • Walsh JC & Mason W (2018) . Social Policy and Society, 17(4), 603-618.
  • Walsh J & Mason W (2018) . Social Policy and Society, 17(4), 679-681.
  • Walsh J & Mason W (2018) . Social Policy and Society, 17(4), 599-602.
  • Morris KM, Mason W, Bywaters P, Daniel B, Featherstone B, Brady G, Bunting L, Hooper J, Mirza N, Scourfield J & Webb C (2018) . Child and Family Social Work, 23(3), 364-372.
  • Bunting L, Davidson G, McCartan C, Hanratty J, Bywaters P, Mason WJ & Steils N (2018) . Child Abuse & Neglect, 77, 121-133.
  • Mason WJ, Mirza N & Webb C (2018) . SAGE Research Methods Cases, Part 2.
  • Mason WJ & Bywaters P (2016) . Families, Relationships and Societies, 5(1), 155-161.
  • Mason W (2015) Austerity youth policy: exploring the distinctions between youth work in principle and youth work in practice. Youth and Policy, 114, 55-74.
  • White L, Mason W, Grant V, Romaine A, Cleary G & Tulloch S () Student Stickers: Reflecting upon Joyful Learning, Co-Creation and the Politics of Playful Dissemination鈥. Sociological Research Online.

Book chapters

  • Nichols K & Mason W (2025) Approaches to teaching thematic analysis in sociology In Foster L, Mason W & Nichols K (Ed.), Teaching Research Methods in Sociology (pp. 247-263). Edward Elgar
  • Foster L, Mason W & Nichols K (2025) , Teaching Research Methods in Sociology (pp. 1-10). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Mason W, Foster L & Nichols K (2025) , Teaching Research Methods in Sociology (pp. 314-319). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Nichols K & Mason W (2025) , Teaching Research Methods in Sociology (pp. 242-258). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Mason W & Wroe L (2025) , Handbook on Crime and Inequality (pp. 148-171). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Mason W, Featherstone B & Bywaters P (2022) , Child Maltreatment (pp. 81-99). Springer International Publishing
  • Mason W (2021) Radically slow? Reflections on time, temporality and pace in engaged scholarship In Clift B, Gore J, Gustafsson S, Bekker S, Costas Batlle I & Hatchard J (Ed.), Temporality in Qualitative Inquiry: Theories, Methods and Practices (pp. 142-157). Routledge

Reports

  • Mason W, Scott S, Melendez-Torres GJ, Tester-Jones M, Fairbrother H, Ali K & Jama O (2025) Investing in community services for young men鈥檚 mental health
  • Mason W, Brasab S, Stone B, Soutar J, Mohamed A & Mwale T (2019) Youth violence, masculinity and mental health: learning from the communities most affected
  • Bywaters P, Bunting L, Davidson G, Hanratty J, Mason WJ, McCartan C & Steils N (2016) The relationship between poverty, child abuse and neglect: a rapid evidence review
  • Mason WJ (2013) 鈥榊ou Don鈥檛 Come to Maple or You Get Bullets in Your Head鈥: Somali Youth, Risk Talk and the Realities of Risk Avoidance

Digital content

  • Mason W & Unity Gym Project S (2020) #unitydoc : participatory filmmaking as counter-storytelling. Retrieved from
  • Mason W (2019) Police drugs crackdown operations can do more harm than good 鈥 I鈥檝e seen it. Retrieved from
  • Mason W (2019) Knife crime : folk devils and moral panics?. Retrieved from
  • Mason WJ & Featherstone B (2017) Reframing child welfare inequalities: making sense with research and changing the conversation. Retrieved from
  • Mason W & Melendez-Torres GJ If we want to support men鈥檚 mental health, we need to talk about wellbeing.
  • Mason W & Warmington M If you want students to read more, consider asking them to read less.
  • Mason W . Retrieved from
  • Mason W & Walsh J 鈥楻eproducing the Stereotypes鈥: Family Complexity, Resource Scarcity and Social Work Decision-Making..
  • Mason WJ 鈥淣o one walks out their house without a knife鈥: living with violence as a daily threat. Retrieved from
  • Morris K, Mason W, Bywaters P, Featherstone B, Daniels B & Mirza N Why those most needing child protection might be least likely to get it.
  • Mason WJ A critical case for participant action research in youth work. Retrieved from

Dictionary or encyclopaedia entries

  • Mason W & May T (2019) . In SAGE Research Methods Foundations (Vol 1).
Teaching interests

Will is a Senior Fellow of the HIgher Education Academy. His teaching and wider pedagogical research has won several awards. In 2021 he was awarded Masters Teacher of the Year in the national FindaAMasters.com and FindAPhD.com Postgraduate awards. In 2025 his collaborative work Towards a Pedagogy of Joy with Dr Lauren White received a 爆料TV Education Award.

Will has experience of teaching across a wide range of substantive and research methods courses. He currently convenes modules on the principles of research design, advanced qualitative methods and interdisciplinarity.  

Will鈥檚 teaching philosophy is closely informed by both critical pedagogy and an ethic of care. This emphasises the value of extending and enriching knowledge in dialogue and doing so in ways that promote mutual understanding and growth. Will is committed to enhancing enjoyment in and through his teaching. His educational practice seeks to achieve this by (i) creating inclusive learning environments (ii) actively seeking and responding to student feedback and (iii) creating opportunities for students to practice their craft, in experiential learning encounters.

PhD Supervision

Kaltum Osman Rivers